Hi,
Not sure if this is the right forum to discuss this in, but I'll have a go, and if someone thinks it might be better addressed somewhere else, please feel free to direct me... ta.

I've got this picture I want to do of a girl on a fairly substantial wave doing a bottom turn, and am using Blender 3D to create my props and Poser 7 to do my renders and the GIMP to do post processing. So, here's what I've been able to come up with so far:

The wave was created in Blender, as was the board - I'll be posting them as props on the Renderosity Free-stuff arena if anyone thinks there might be an interest in it. My question is this: I want to create spray coming off the bottom of the board as well as a wake off the back of the board in the water (and also froth at the top of the crest, eventually, but I might try to model that in Blender). All my efforts in the GIMP have been pretty lame. Anyone have any idea what the best approach would be to create a kind of spray effect, and whether it should be a post-process thing or a modelled thing?

Any hints will be gratefully taken on board (no pun intended)...
Thanks...

For a single picture, spray would probably best be done in postwork.
There are ways to handle drops in Poser, but the sheer number of
particles would be a lot more work than a good Photoshop filter.

Alternatively, you could make a shape corresponding to the outermost
boundaries of the spray, and give it a transparency map (transmap)
with lots of dots.  This would be more work than the filter, I think ...
but it would have the advantage of looking more 3-dimensional
from different angles, if you wanted to change the camera angle.

There are a couple threads over at RDNA on water material.

http://www.runtimedna.com/mod/forum/messages.php?ShowMessage=226110

http://www.runtimedna.com/mod/forum/messages.php?ShowMessage=232234

There are some brushes and props in the MP for water spray type effects.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?vendor=deviney

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?vendor=forester

Jepes has some movie effects water. His effects are excellent. I don't have the water one, but I do have some of his other ones.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?ViewProduct=25465

You may be able to find some free brushes for water, sprays, splashes at DeviantArt or elsewhere.

Thanks Ockham and Acadia... I've been studying those SeaWater material room settings... head is spinning. No clue how to make this work for me, but having fun tweaking values and rendering to see what it gives... most of the time, the wall of water still looks like a textured concrete surface... I'll keep trying and let you know how I get on.

In the MP there is also a "surfer wave" already made:
http://market.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?ViewProduct=59557

Quote - In the MP there is also a "surfer wave" already made:
http://market.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?ViewProduct=59557

Ah, that's the beauty of Blender - had me a play, and am making this group of wave objects that will show waves at different stages and also different types of waves. Beach-break doesn't look like reef-break, and a Malibu wave feels nothing like what I used to paddle out to at Kaimu beach at Kalapana -- now long gone, Madame Pele decided it was a prime real estate area and made some more.
Like Dave's model, my models will only work for still shots - they are not animated (at this point, however, Blender does support animation and there's a lot of playing around going on with respect to water behaviour in Blender). Anyway, so far the biggest challenge is getting the textures believeable and so the rooster-tail spray from the bottom turn will have to queue up behind that accomplishment-in-the-making. Not there yet, but we're definitely getting closer.

I must say I do like the idea of just sitting down and seeing if I can create some of these objects myself. Working in Blender has become quite natural, and as one gets to know some of the fine artists in the community who use Blender and they share tips and tricks, one is loathe to try anything else.

Yes, water textures are indeed hard.  I played around with them for
a decorative fountain and a sudsy sink ... never did find anything
really satisfying.  I think a multi-layer approach is needed, with an
outer and inner surface.  If you can solve the problem convincingly,
you may well have a salable product!